You really took me out of my comfort zone here, I rarely read this genre. Although I should probably be honest with you, telling you that this isn't the type of story I've would pick myself, I must say that it's well-written, and that you've done a good job with it.

I was confused by the dates of the setting. Eight months after James's and Lily's death would be in the middle of the Summer, wouldn't it? It might be a small detail, but it bothered me enough to keep thinking of that instead of keep reading at first.

The first part of the chapter was rather slow, but then things speeded up. Bellatrix was in character, I think. She's both evil and crazy.

It's strange that a Muggle could use a wand. He might not be a Muggle after all, he seems to have magical power, but seeing how hard is it for Wizards and Witches to learn new spells he seem to have an extraordinary ability to learn fast. That's an unusual story plot you've got here!

Molly

Author's Response: You aren't the only one who struggles with Serahn's believably. It was Dumbledore who told us magic is not perfect but everyone seems to look right past that.

People focus on "Muggle's can't do magic" but its so funny for a website based on imagination, the solution get's so easily missed.

Perhaps I need to re-look at re-explaining or perhaps an AN to just give it away. But here you go...

Serahn is a wizard. Children aren't forced to go to magical school if their parents forbit it. Serahn's parents are dead, they died when he was a teen. Of course you will learn this later, but yeah, he never went to magical school but he is most certainly a wizard.

The reasons why he was not identified as a wizard show that magic is not perfect and also is the big mystery in the whole story.

This was a entertaining and funny one-shot. It can't be easy to be Harry, not even in times of peace with no Voldemort around... :-)

The idea with a magical puzzle is great, and it works very well in your story. Harry's concerns about uniting his family are both heartwarming and understandable. All he wants is a big happy family who love each other, but I guess he has bitten off more than he can chew here.

Although tipsy!Ginny is entertaining to read, I doubt that she would allow herself to get drunk in front of her children. Or am I being a bore now? ;-P

Molly

Author's Response: Hi, Molly!

Life does tend to be difficult for Harry, although he doesn't necessarily make things any easier on himself. He sets the bar high.

The idea for this story popped into my head -- surprise, surprise! -- while I was watching my kids work a floor puzzle. It ended up collecting a bunch of funny ideas I'd been keeping in the back of my head for a while. Drunk Ginny, Dudley visiting Harry's family, Arthur playing with muggle power tools, Kreacher putting a pot on his head and defending Harry's house... they all found their way in.

As I use to say: Albus's chapters are the best ones! The first part of this chapter is so bittersweet, I wanted it to go on forever. That single summer was the happiest time Albus had. It's utterly sad, he sure deserved better than that. I like how you let the word 'together' be a theme here too!

His thoughts about teaching, and about returning to Hogwarts are believable I think. The job interview scene is important to understand how and why he ended up teaching. I think it's a good thing to include, because he is in fact over-qualified.

Poor man, looking for forgiveness when it's not to come... Not from his dead father, nor from his living brother. I think about when he told Harry that he saw himself with a pair of socks in the Mirror of Erised. He has lost everything, but keeps on going.

This was a great chapter, one of my favourites so far!

Molly

Author's Response: Hi Molly! Thank you so much for stopping by - and for the swap! I always love swapping with you - though I think I'm going to have to post some more chapters soon so I can catch up with Life Was Meant To Be Easy Now ;)

I'm so glad you liked it - this was one of the moments I'd really been looking forward to writing! And yeah, it's incredibly sad, really, though the first part is kinda sweet - it's when he's still happy, haha. Yeah, I agree - he definitely deserved more happiness in his life! I'm so glad you liked the repetition - I was so worried it would be too much, so I'm so happy to hear you say that! :)

I really, really wanted to avoid the whole 'teaching is what I always wanted to do' thing with this, so I'm so glad you liked it! I really wanted to show that this is less a turning point for him and more a punishment-type thing... and he's waaay overqualified :P It's almost ridiculous, imo :D

It's a really sad thing for him, you know - and it was one of the things which struck me most about his backstory in DH. He spends so long trying to make it right, and in the end it's debatable about whether or not he feels he succeeded. Really tough lot. Also, I wanted to introduce his family more in this one - especially Aberforth.

Thank you so much for the review, and for the swap - I'm so glad you liked this chapter! :)

A great thing with an exchange like this is that it helps me out of my comfort zone. I would probably never have chosen this story on my own, because I almost always read fluff or romance, and I rarely choose OC stories. But this first chapter is really good, and you captured my interest from the very first line.

Poor boy, I really feel for him. He is not only an orphan, but heís also not magical, and yet heís not a squib either. Iíve got a theory that he might in fact be a very powerful wizard, but that something holds him back. Maybe some trauma, or perhaps his mysterious illness is holding his magic back.

You have certainly given the reader a lot to think about, and Iím wondering a lot right now. Who is Mutch? What happened to his parents? Who is his uncle really? What about the illness? And the strange reactions to magic? His need of gloves reminds me of Frozen, but since your story is older than the film I canít blame you to copy the idea from that. Maybe Disney stole the idea from you? ;-)

All these questions makes me want to keep reading (which Iíll do, but you might have to wait a couple of days for the reviews!) This first chapter really caught my attention, and Iím glad I got out of my usual comfort zone! Thanks!

Molly

Author's Response: Hi Molly!

Haha! No, I didn't steal the gloves idea from Frozen. LOL! I'm thinking about putting this story into an original world, to transition it from FF to OF, so if you have any ideas moving forward, I'd love to hear them.

I'm happy that the first section caught your interest, and yeah, I completely understand that a completely OCs story wouldn't be the first pick of fanfic readers, since we're here to read about our fandom, after all.

There are several elements that I chose not to expand on in this short version. You'll probably see them hanging out there with little or no explanation, so don't be shy to comment on that, because I want to get to everything that I set up when I do the rewrite. That's the main reason I wanted some comments on this story at this time. It's my project for 2015.

Thanks for the lovely comments, and there's no rush. I'll be getting to your story after the weekend (and RL calms down, ugh!).

This was really an interesting start, and an unusual beginning. I really like it so far, and I'm wondering where it'll lead.

McLaggen isn't exactly my favourite character, but I can't help feeling for him here. I also like how well Victoire and Teddy seem to understand each other.

Both parts of the chapter work really well together, and this makes me want to keep reading! Well done!

Author's Response: Thank you so much for such a kind review! I'm really happy to hear you're enjoying reading.

I'm very much not a fan of McLaggen too, but I wanted to give him a chance to grow up. Lots of people are a bit rubbishy at school. But I think his tense relationship with Harry and Ron shows that he's still a difficult person, even if he doesn't recognise that himself.

And I wanted Victoire and Teddy's closeness to come across here. Their families are war heroes and people on the outside wouldn't be able to understand each other as easily as these two can.

Oh, I can't let that poor review box be hungry, I have to feed it a little. :-)

I like this chapter. You are still showing how Lily and James have the kind of love-hate relationship where every emotion is in use.

James's friends are very sweet, and I like how you include the detail that Lily and Remus are friends. That fits well into the story.

Remus is about to tell her the truth, and I really think that he should do it. James is still choosing his friends over her, but at least he has a reason for it. If she knew the reason it might be easier to understand his choice.

I like the idea of the pensive showing moments from the past. It was very cute all in all. And the frogs...! :-D

This is Molly with your requested review. (But I would probably have done this sooner or later anyway, this story is too good to miss!)

You are certainly providing a lot of background here, which is good. As you know, I've liked Albus's chapters best so far, but this chapter is an exception. This one made me feel for Gellert, and for the first time he became human and likeable. Poor boy, to be abandoned by his mother like that. I like that he got to meet her, and that she told him that she loved him. But, as we know, the damage was already done.

His background makes sense to me. It is believable, and adds depth to his character. I'm really glad that you included this in your story. I have a feeling that I'll think different about Gellert from now on.

And for the first time I believe that he really miss Albus too...

I'm looking forward to see where this story will lead!

Molly

Author's Response: Hey Molly! :) Thank you so much for stopping, and thank you so much for that!

Thank you so much! I'm so glad you liked the background - I really wanted to expand on it because there hasn't been much of it in so far, and I thought it was probably about time - especially considering we know a lot about Albus/ background comparatively. Yeah, Gellert is almost vulnerable in this one, which is strange for him - and definitely, it was too late really to make repairs to their relationship.

I'm so happy you believe it - I actually developed his backstory before I started this, so it's been a while coming, haha! But it was really too good to miss, I think, so I'm glad you liked it too; it was one of the bits I was so excited about writing.

I think this is one of the few times Gellert thinks about Albus in terms of affectionate feelings, rather than physical attraction or intelligent friendship, you know, so yeah, there is a more emotional side to their relationship and to him saying he misses Albus :)

Thank you so much for the lovely review - as always it's so great to see you back, and I'm just so happy you're enjoying this! :)

This little story was the creepiest creeper story I've ever read... I like the idea of those necklaces! Terrible, but genius!

Poor boy, he hadn't a clue! And poor Vic too, of course!

It would be interesting to read a little bit more of this, even though it's amazing just how much you could tell in online 500 words.

I like the italics, those lines does the story plot work great as they're holding it together.

You've done a great job with this unusual one-shot!

Molly

Author's Response: Hello there! :D

I'm so glad you enjoyed reading this story! It wasn't easy to fit everything in just five hundred words and I had to edit this again and again, but all these lovely reviews like yours are definitely worth it! :) Thank you so much!

Poor Teddy! Writing this almost killed me. I felt way too bad for him. :( But he fit the plot perfectly and I couldn't imagine anyone else here. So I had to do this to my favorite next gen character.

I must say this story caught me with surprise! This was very well done indeed!

The dark, mysterious feeling, Draco's bad mood and his overly self-conscious actions leads the reader to believe that something very dark is going on... I had a laugh reading the end, but then my laughter stopped quickly, because of the sadness of the lonely boy. Poor little Scorpius!

You managed to make me experience a lot of different feelings during the read of this very short story. That's impessive!

This story only gets better and better I think. I must say that I felt a little sceptical about creative arts at Hogwarts, but I think that you might manage to make the concept work out well in this story.

The text is easy to read, humorous and I found myself caught up in reading immediately. There are lots of characters, and although we don't know them very well just yet I believe that they will develop and grow on me. I love Tatum already! (The Monty Python reference is awesome!)

Poor Scorpius who had to sign up for features, just because of a smile from Rose... That's sweet and also very believable. I can remember quite a few times I've done things like that just to please or impress someone I cared about. And she probably didn't even notice it, did she?

So, I'm finally here for our swap. I was going to review L'optimisme, but then I saw this story on your Author's page and could help myself. :-)

I'm glad I found this, because I really like it! I don't think I've ever read a story about Pomona Sprout before. She is really one of those characters you easily forget about. I like how you managed to fit this story into (Pottermore) canon.

I love your Pomona, she seems to be 'alive'. The references to what her mother would say are great because that tells the reader that she's still young. She doesn't feel like a teacher yet. She's like Anne of Green Gables! :-)

I also like how McGonagall is presented. She was (apparently!) young once upon a time too... ;-)

Albus Dumbledore is lovely too. Would you say that he is 'the same' Albus as in L'optimisme?

You include plenty of little details in the story, which makes it interesting to read. It also makes me feel like it could be canon. It's very well-written, but that's not a surprise to me seeing how good your other stories are.

Thanks for a great swap! :-)

Molly (who was in fact reviewing tonight after all!)

Author's Response: Hey there - thanks so much for the swap! :)

No worries - this story is something I do love, because the idea was so good, and I loved it to pieces, so I just had to write it ;) I'm just so glad people seem to think it's okay because it's a bit of a weird idea.

Thank you! :) I'm so glad you like her - I've only read a couple of stories about Pomona Sprout, actually, so it was interesting to write her as a character. I love Pottermore headcanon, I really loved including it - I've wanted for a while to write about the Minerva backstory, so it was so great to be able to include it in this :)

Haha, I loved writing the references to her mother! There will probably be a few more later on, simply because I kinda like her mother as an off-screen character :P

Yep, once upon a time, she was young too ;) I'm glad you like her - I was a bit worried she'd be a bit too OOC, you know?

Actually, it's funny you say that, since in my headcanon for Albus, this fits in sort of after/alongside L'optimisme, though the moments in this won't come up in L'optimisme, so yeah, they are certainly intended to be the same :)

Thank you so much for the lovely compliments - I'm so glad you like this! It's not very well edited, haha, so I'm so happy you think it's not bad! :)

Thank you so much for the swap - I really liked it, as always! :) And thank you for the review - it was so lovely to get!

Every chapter of this story is of just as high quality. I still have to admire your poetic and beautiful language. It's even more noticeable in Albus's chapters.

He is so sad, and he has sometimes so low thoughts of himself, at least compared to what other people think about himÖ

Oh, the twelve uses of Dragons bloodÖ Poor Alain. He doesn't know anything. But I like that Albus didn't live all his life after Gellert in celibacy, as it is sometimes assumed. That would be quite a few decades seeing how old he became.

And it's good that your Albus isn't some kind of saint. He is human (which also is shown in canon). Although Albus is bright and clever, he is also foolish. Trying to escape memories is understandable, but seldom successful.

This chapter has a very even and nice pace. I like how it brings the story forwards.

Thanks for a great swap! See you soon!

Molly

Author's Response: Hey Molly! Thank you so much for stopping by again! :) Your reviews are always such lovely surprises to get!

Yeah, it's easier to have the poetic stuff in Albus' chapters, I think because his voice is more suited to poetics than Gellert's is. I'm so glad you like it, though!

He gets incredibly low at times, and it's definitely extremely low compared to what others think about him! But then, when we're upset, we tend to do that.

Yeah, I feel so sorry for Alain. He may show up again in the future, though ;) He sort of realises in this chapter that it's not about him, though, hence the shame and irritation between them, but he didn't think about it before... I mean, who would? But yeah, I really didn't want Albus to be monk-like for all of his life after Gellert; it would be a really long time, indeed! :P

Thank you! :) I really wanted to make sure that he wasn't perfect, but he wasn't all bad either, because I think people have a tendency to go one way or another in their opinion, and I wanted to show that it's kinda both. He's definitely foolish about the memories, though... it's really not going to work! :)

Thank you so so much for the great review - it was so wonderful to get! I'm just so glad you enjoyed it :)

Another great chapter! There is nothing like a Weasley Christmas, and you do it justice here! It's just as fluffy and sweet as it should be! James is a darling, so is Nana Weasley! A hand-knitted sweater is the icing on the cake.

The Potions book was a really good idea, I liked that very much! :-)

A small detail which didn't make sense was that the sunrise was far to early. Midwinter days are short, I guess the sun isn't up until 8 am in December. ;-)

The conversation about the scholarship between Rose and her father is wonderful! I love the idea of Ron thinking that Rose needs to have more fun! That was in character! :-)

Molly

Author's Response: thank you! i really love the idea of weasley christmases - writing them is just my happy place and i love that i was able to capture that sweet fluffiness that goes hand in hand with it.

omg, i didn't even think of that! i managed to make the mental switch in my brain for northern hemisphere christmas = cold but completely forgot that winter means, you know, shorter days. thank you for pointing that out!

Wow! This was another great chapter! I liked this even better than the first one!

First of all: the way the chapter titles and summaries correlates to each other is beautifully poetic. I love that!

It was some time since I actually read about James/Lily meeting Vernon/Petunia on Pottermore, but as I remember it this fits perfectly as a missing moment.

I can understand that Lily feels disappointed. James chooses his friends over her, which seems like he hasn't got his priorities right. But we know things she doesn't... I love that she thinks Sirious got the dear/deer spelling wrong! :-D

As I said, I do understand her disappointment, but in the long run it might have been for her best. Being with someone for the very first time would mean even more if she wasn't upset. She isn't missing anything she couldn't get later, anyway. Still, I feel sad for her.

This was a great chapter update! :-)

Molly

Author's Response: Awww! Molly, thank you so much! *blushes*

Yay! Thank you! I went back and changed that from the original chapter summary and title I had because it was just so, well, 'blah' and I hated it. I felt bad for sending it back into the queue just to change the chapter title and summary, but it's good to see the change made a difference! :D

Yay! I'm glad! Maybe you should go back and re-acquaint yourself! It's a fun read! ;)

Awww, poor James. He doesn't have them right, does he? Though, we do know thing she doesn't. We can just hope she comes to understand when the time comes for her to know what had happened in truth. ;) Yay! I'm glad you liked that part! I thought it was cute, too! ;)

That's what I was going for. She was too upset to be with him for that first time moment, but she didn't realize it. She's just all emotional from her bad year so far. :(

Thank you so much, dear! *squish* And I promise, once I finish my update for Getting Out Alive 5, I'll be editing your chapter five as soon as possible! I haven't forgotten about you! :D *squishes into a hug*

I'm glad I got the chance to find this one-shot, because it was really good reading. I love how you portray Molly and Arthur in this story. Their grief is hard to fully understand, and that was one of the things I couldn't stop thinking about when I finished the Deathly Hallows. Molly Weasley is (Surprise, surpiseÖ!) one of my favourite characters. Being a parent myself my worst fear is for something happening to one of my children.

There are plenty of stories about George dealing with Fredís death. I say nothing against that, because losing a twin at young age is probably just as terrible as losing a child. (I'm a mother of twins myself, and I know how special bonding they've got. That goes beyond ordinary siblingís bonds.) But there are not as many stories that focus on Mollyís feelings, at least not as a main theme.

The way you describe the seasons changing and her thoughts about that gives depths to her griefs. I love how patient Arthur is, and how you show us that he's grieving too. Sometimes it seems like authors believe that he would take the loss of their son easier than her, which I don't believe. There's no difference between mothers and fathers when it comes to that, I believe. But everyone has their own way of mourning, which you also showed in your story.

Over all I would say that this is a very well-written story, and that I'm happy that I found it.

Molly

Author's Response: Hi Molly!

Thanks so much for this incredible review - and thanks for doing a swap!

Haha - I can relate to Molly Weasley quite a bit as well. I don't have twins, but I've got three kids (two boys and a girl). So I can also relate to the fear of something happening to one of my kids :)

When I was writing this, I remembered the scene with the boggart in OotP. Molly's greatest fear was also losing one of her children as well. I just thought that once that fear had been realized, it would completely overwhelm her.

Gah - I'm so glad Arthur's grief came through as well. Since I was mainly focusing on how consumed Molly was with grieving for Fred, I found it difficult to show his pain as well, but I'm really glad you could feel it.

Wow, Molly, I don't think I can thank you enough for this amazing review. I felt so warmed by your lovely words.

This is really a good story! All the characters are very well-written, and there's something new happening all the time.

I love how your characters are not all straight cis-persons, and that you manage to mention this in passing without letting that be the main focus of the story.

Emily.? Can she be trusted?!

I can't wait for their next prank! :-)

Molly

Author's Response: thank you so much, i'm glad you're enjoying it! it's always been important to me to have effective lgbtqa representation in my stories without making it the be all and end all of their identities or their stories. and emily's a very complex character, i'll give her that. thanks for reviewing!

This story is really promising, and this chapter is just as good as the first one. I'm amazed by how genuinely all the characters are written. I can tell that you have given them a lot of thought.

Scorpius is admitting his crush, at least to himself, which is good. It's sweet how affected he is when Albus is touching his arm. I've got this fuzzy feeling from reading it!

I also love how his friends are teasing each other in a friendly good-naturally way. They like each other and care for each other. It's cute that Jia has a crush on Rose. A double date in Hogsmeade eventually?

The detail about the moving staircases was brilliant! Albus has noticed something everyone else is missing.

I'm wondering what happened to him which made him go blind. I guess that will be explained later on?

You've done a great job here with an interesting first chapter. AJ seems to be very strong and mature. I guess she is because she has to be. She is determined to give her siblings the very best she can. I hope that we'll see that there's someone helping her as well.

I'm wondering what has happened to their parents. The fact that you don't tell us right from the start makes the story more interesting and mysterious, which makes the reader want to keep reading to find out.

It seems to be a family who sticks together, even if they have their differences. They are too many to get to know in this first chapter, but I guess that'll change later on.

I'm not always keen on OC stories, but I think a good way to make us accept your OCs was to introduce Harry and Dean from the start as well. That was very well done!

So, all in all, this was an interesting start! Thanks for this swap! :-)

Molly

Author's Response: Hi, Molly!

Thanks so much! You've pretty much got AJ spot on there.

Everyone wonders--and all will be revealed with time! :D

They're a very close-knit group of siblings. You'll get to know them individually in the later chapters. :)

We're exact opposites on that :p I like reading through an OC's perspective. I also find it more comfortable because then I can't go OOC. But yes, Harry and Dean definitely help getting the readers to accept everything :)

This was a nice piece of work. Both James and Sirious are well in character, and the setting is believable. I like stories that fits with canon, and this one really do.

I was living in my best friend's family for some time during my teens. Not because my parents threw me out, but because of other circumstances. I remember feeling thankful, and sometimes left out. I was happy that they were willing to let me live there, but it never felt like my own home, or my own family. I guess Sirious will have to face those feelings too.

James's parents are amazing. They're opening their home to a boy who needs it. I'm wondering how things would have been if they were still alive when James and Lily died. Harry would have been taken care of in a totally different way.

Over all, this was a story that made me feel and think. And that is what good reading is really about, isn't it?